Cardinals nip Monarchs 12-11

Enough was enough for Jacksonville senior noseguard Alva Muldrow. It was time for the Cardinals to step up and beat their nemesis Northside.

Rick Scoppe-Sports Editor/The Daily News

Enough was enough for Jacksonville senior noseguard Alva Muldrow. It was time for the Cardinals to step up and beat their nemesis Northside.

And on Friday night Jacksonville did just that.

In an exciting back-and-forth battle that was long on defense and had its moments on offense, the Cardinals edged the Monarchs 12-11 behind two second-half touchdown runs by quarterback Exelman Adams.

The win snapped an eight-game losing streak to the Monarchs, who fell to 1-2, while also lifting the Cardinals to 3-0 – their best start since 2004, which was also the only other time Jacksonville had beat Northside, which now leads the series 9-2.

“I can’t lose to them my senior year,” said Muldrow, who helped spearhead a defensive effort that held the Monarchs to 56 yards rushing and 179 yards total offense. “It was too much. I had to show up. It’s Jacksonville. It’s our town. We had to let them know that.”

Northside coach Bob Eason gave his team an “A-plus for effort.”

“But execution was a D. They played hard. It’s probably one of the better games we played. But we’re not going to be satisfied with losing,” he said. “The fans got their money’s worth. It’s just our coaches losing our hair.”

The Cardinals trailed 6-0 at halftime after wide receiver Josh Cabrera snared a 5-yard pass from quarterback Jake Erickson on fourth-and-10, eluded three tackles and raced into the end zone for a 30-yard score with 1:04 left in the second quarter.

“Cabrera’s a great player,” JHS coach Beau Williams said. “He made a heck of a play. We had three guys there. It is what it is.”

Cabrera, who has committed to UNC, had a night to remember in defeat, hauling in 6 passes for 106 yards while also averaging 45.4 yards on five punts, one of which rolled dead at the JHS 1-yard line. Cabrera had only one catch in the first two games this year.

But the Cardinals tied it up on their first possession of the second half, driving 80 yards in 12 plays behind Adams, who is 3-0 as a replacement for starter Vincent Siders. Siders is out after hurting his knee during a preseason scrimmage.

Adams had the big play of the drive, weaving his way through the defense for a 37-yard gain to the Northside 15. He also kept the march alive with a 7-yard run on fourth-and-4 at the 9 before scoring two plays later on a 1-yard sneak with 5:00 minutes left.

The score snapped a stretch of 15 quarters in which JHS had not scored against Northside.

Like Northside, however, JHS missed the kick for the point after.

Then came a key stretch – at least for the Monarchs. After Cabrera’s 59-yard punt rolled dead at the JHS 1, Adams was trapped in the end zone for safety with 2:53 left. Autry Taylor, who rushed for 59 yards on 26 carries, returned the ensuing free kick 32 yards to the JHS 35.

Erickson then hooked up for a 29-yard pass to Cabrera, who again broke several tackles. But the Monarchs managed to gain just 2 yards on the next three plays and had to settle for a 22-yard field goal by Gage Eason with 30.8 seconds left in the third quarter to make it 11-6.

The failure to get into the end zone would ultimately cost the Monarchs, who had they scored a touchdown likely would have gotten a huge momentum boost going into the fourth quarter.

“I think that’s part of us being so young,” Eason said. “Our guys don’t even understand, I’m having to tell them, ‘Hey, this is big.’ There’s a lot of them that just don’t understand we’re so young. But they played hard. It’s not for lack of effort.”

Jacksonville responded immediately – after a nearly monumental mistake. Tim Dennis picked up the ensuing kickoff as it rolled toward the end zone at the 1 and looked trapped. But somehow he escaped and raced 64 yards to the Northside 35.

Five plays later, Adams escaped from a near-sack and sprinted 16 yards on third-and-11. A horse collar penalty gave JHS the 10, where on the next play Adams improvised and scored as he slithered between would-be tacklers.

The run for the two-point conversion failed but JHS led 12-11 with 10:58 left

“The play crashed,” Adams said of what proved the game-winning score. “It was the right play, but it wasn’t executed right. I had to make something out of nothing. A block was missed.”

Northside wasn’t done, however.

On fourth-and-4 at the Northside 46, Cabrera set up to punt but instead hit Taylor for a 15-yard first down, but an ineligible receiver penalty killed the gain with just under 10 minutes left.

“We’ve got discipline issues,” Eason said. “I guess since I’m the head guy I’ve got to take the blame.”

The Cardinals gave the ball back on their first snap thanks to a fumble in the backfield, which was recovered at the JHS 21. But the JHS defense held, forcing Northside to try a 35-yard field goal which was wide right by Gage Eason with 8:01 left.

Jacksonville then sealed the win with 2:05 left when Aron Williams picked off Erickson’s pass to Cabrera – JHS’ sixth pickoff this season – and returned it for a 55-yard touchdown, which was called back because of a block in the back. But JHS was able to run out the clock for the win.

“It feels good to be 3-0. We haven’t been 3-0 since I’ve been here. So that’s a good plus for us,” coach Beau Williams said. “A win’s a win. I know it’s against them. That’s just one of the stepping stones on the way up there.

“It was a good game. His group’s going to fight hard. They’re not going to ever back down, and our kids are doing that now. So it made it a great game. It was a great high school football game. I about lost my voice.”